<p>Thanks for the update!</p>
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<p>Ah, yeah. How much does anyone want to bet that this incident report that was never put into the system was written after the Vice President’s office called to ask for it?</p>
<p>Surely sounds like two guys thought they could get away with not handling the incident correctly, and are now covering posterior portions of their anatomy.</p>
<p>Yes, thanks for the update. And keep us posted on what happens after Day 10 of the investigation too! </p>
<p>One reason I’m interested, admittedly for purely selfish reasons, is that I am troubled by some lax policies re student safety at my D’s college and have been contemplating taking some action, such as contacting various administrators. It’s good to see that this incident is being taken seriously.</p>
<p>OK, am writing as we speak–writing is something I am pretty effective at. Will cc VP’s office, who does seem very interested in all of this. D just heard something that scared her. A 24-year old female was “rprocessed” by police/security in Santa Barbara (I think) & then released with no phone, no car & possibly no money. She walked into the night & is now missing!</p>
<p>OK–here’s the draft of the letter I’m planning to send in to DPS, cc’ing VP. Anyone have any “tweaks”?</p>
<pre><code> As we discussed today, we strongly urge USC and DPS to come up with a policy to safeguard future accident victims. We think any incident that causes a person to be knocked to the ground (especially in collision with a vehicle or heavy object) should automatically have EMTs or similar medical personnel called to the scene to check out the physical condition of the person who was on the ground (even if they are able to sit up). The person on the ground should be urged to remain lying down (or slowly allowed to raise to a sitting position), to avoid seriously worsening any injuries.
We also urge that any person who is knocked to the ground who does not go to the ER, Health Center or other medical care, be driven to their residence and their possessions transported at the same or later time. *ALL INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS should be given the incident report and names, contact and insurance information of those involved without having to ask, as mandated by California Motor Vehicle Code. * The person involved in any accident should also get a follow-up phone call to check on his/her condition after the accident. None of the above happened in this case and the results could have been MUCH more serious.
When our daughter called DPS on Saturday, September 19, they could not find any incident report and said she’d have to come in person to tell them her injuries. They asked her for an incident report number—she did not have any number to give them as she had never received any. When we spoke with Dr. Denzil Suite, more than a week after the incident, he could not locate any incident report either! It seems extremely irregular that the incident report should not appear until such a long time after the accident and only after there is a letter by us inquiring about the matter.
As mentioned, we are deeply disturbed and would like this incident to be followed up so that other accidents are handled properly. We expect the people paid to safeguard our children to have much more concern for their safety. We and the USC families we have spoken to are shocked and outraged that this incident has been so poorly handled and are glad the Chief Thomas and the Vice President’s office is giving this the serious attention it deserves. We are all very pleased to hear that you, Chief Thomas, are looking into this matter and that it will be promptly and thoroughly investigated. We are all also very pleased to hear that DPS and USC will be revisiting policies about summoning medical attention when people are knocked to the ground in accidents.
</code></pre>
<p>"to check out the physical condition AND MENTAL condition of the VICTIM "</p>
<p>We also urge that any person who is knocked to the ground BE TAKEN TO THE NEAREST USC HEALTH CENTER FOR EVALUATION [delete the rest of the sentence]</p>
<p>ALL INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS MUST be given the incident report and names, contact and insurance information of those involved without having to ask, as mandated by California Motor Vehicle Code.</p>
<p>Thanks for those thoughts. </p>
<p>At the end of paragraph 1, thought I’d also add:
“The victim also needs to be reassured by DPS and medical personnel of complete amnesty and confidentiality for his/her condition so that the victim can have total candor about any possible substances that may have been ingested and affect his/her condition and treatment.” </p>
<p>[We need to be realistic that this is one important reason (alcohol/drug use) some folks may otherwise refuse treatment and it could have dire consequences if it leads to refusal of medical attention.]</p>
<p>Have switched paragraph 2 to read as follows:</p>
<p>We also urge that any person who is knocked to the ground be taken to the nearest USC Health Center or if it closed, EMT location for thorough evaluation. Upon completion of the evaluation, the patient shall be driven home by DPS, Campus Cruiser, or other driver patient prefers and obtains. ALL INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS MUST be given the incident report and names, contact and insurance information of those involved without having to ask, as mandated by California Motor Vehicle Code. The person involved in any accident should also get a follow-up phone call to check on his/her condition after the accident. None of the above happened in this case and the results could have been MUCH more serious.</p>
<p>OK, have sent the revised letter to DPS Chief & VP’s office. </p>
<p>Have great news–D seems to be doing well & is even recovering from her cold.</p>
<p>Have just sent an e-mail to DPS, cc’ing others about possibly having bike/vehicle education, including wearing helmets & will see what the response will be.</p>
<p>Good luck Himom. Even at the school where Sophie had her accident not much has changed. The students still don’t wear helmets, except for those that were closest to the situation.</p>
<p>Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have at least put in writing a request that policies be revisited so that people who are thrown to the ground in accidents receive a physical and mental exam by healthcare professional AND also the suggestion about bike/vehicle ed & safety, including a helmet promotion program with prizes. Will see what happens–at some point Us will have to respond IF enough parents make enough noise.</p>
<p>It’s crazy to me that we raise our kids wearing helmets only to have them go off to school & abandon them because of peer pressure. The Us have an obligation to work with us to foster helmet use & other things to help our young adults make good choices.</p>
<p>Sadly all too many parents make their kids wear them, and model behavior totally contrary to that. They ride around with the kids, hair flying in the breeze, with the kids wearing them. The message is all too clear…wear this while you have to and then when you turn 18 you can go without, like we do.</p>
<p>For our family, we ALL wore all the safety gear for biking & skateboarding, EXCEPT when hubby took a bad spill off a scooter on a steep incline (he stopped riding scooters after that). It is crazy that safety gear is invented and refined (actually looks pretty spiffy compared to back in the day), but there is still such resistance to wearing it, even when everyone KNOWS how much safer it makes things. <sigh> There’s even great resistance to laws limiting passengers in the back of pickup trucks and so many other things.</sigh></p>
<p>You are right that many kids can’t wait until they can emulate their folks and stop using safety gear, just like their folks. :(</p>
<p>“The Us have an obligation to work with us to foster helmet use”
Uh, no they really don’t these days. It’s not like the old days when colleges acted as surrogate parents to students. After they reach the age of 18, a student can prevent his parents from learning anything about his college record, health, etc. Since the notification law was changed, students are the ones in charge of what they decide to do in college, subject to the college’s rules, which will never be more strict than state laws for adults. Parents have no right to a students record or health record or anything that occurs on campus unless students give their permission. Do I like this? No, but it is what it is, and as long as the law is not changed, colleges have no obligation to do as parents wish [unless of course you have the money to buy some “influence” with the Pres of the college. jke].</p>
<p>I wish my own D wore a helmet (and I even took her to the bike store and bought her a $50 helmet), but there isn’t a lot I can do to make her. She is 19, what am I going to do, take away her bike? </p>
<p>HImom, I think what you are doing is really worthwhile–insuring that the school’s care of accident victims is professional and thorough. I don’t think it’s reasonable, though, to expect administration to do much about helmet wearing, unless it is actually a law in CA. Then I guess their security could assess fines, but I bet they wouldn’t want to do it!</p>
<p>Actually, I was hoping that the U might decide to take it on as a challenge for their marketing/public health/cinema school to have a campaign about bike/vehicle safety, including helmet & lighting use, with prizes and incentives. The carrot can work MUCH better than the stick, especially if there is a way to get the athletes & coaches to get behind this. IF the school is able to mount a successful campaign, it could be exported to other campuses and would be great experience/capstone projects or even grad school research/dissertations.</p>
<p>It would really be a great achievement if the U wanted to help change the culture and showed that it could. As a parent, that is what I hope.</p>
<p>At the very least, I am hoping the accident victims have their health much more carefully evaluated & that they are driven to their homes. I am also hoping that procedures are greatly improved so incident reports aren’t mysteriously “not filed” until over a week after the incident.</p>
<p>That’s a great idea, HImom. The carrot will definitely have a fighting chance to work, because the stick won’t make a dent.</p>
<p>How about a contest to decorate your helmet? Like the ones they do for their mortarboards.</p>
<p>Yes, that and also random award every day to someone wearing a helmet who has appropriate bike light & reflectors (works well for radio stations & others). If they can get the athletes on board, that will really help. Since so many are on scholarship, there is some leverage over them.</p>
<p>I love the idea of a contest to decorate helmets, especially with Halloween coming up. I appealed to the pride of the U, saying that it would be a good practical application for the business school & school of cinema (didn’t remember to include school of public health – on a different campus anyway).</p>
<p>Just got an e-mail back from Chief Thomas of Campus Security. The chief likes the video link I sent him by Chicago PD’s on bike & vehicle safety (see it on the blog if you google Chicago bike safety video).</p>
<p>He said he’d like to put one together with LAPD expecially for the USC community. He also said he forwarded my other ideas about bike & helmet safety on to the Crime Prevention Unit (they put together the department’s safety/crime prevention education programs). </p>
<p>No word back on re-visiting policy on how accident victims should be treated or the mysterious incident report but will wait & see.</p>
<p>HImom - the cynic in me says they are jumping on the helmet issue because that part is your D’s fault, not theirs. However, at least there is communication, and that is a good thing.</p>
<p>I had created a post a few days ago but didn’t post it, with some ideas about helmets. Your idea of randomly rewarding helmet wearers was one I’d also thought of. - Coupons for free ice cream, or something. Could be donated by local merchants.</p>
<p>I also thought that there should be a “spirit wear” helmet design (or decal) available in the school store. And maybe a “helmet awareness day” when everyone wore them whether riding or not.</p>
<p>Free helmets could be given to certain scholarship winners or other group, to attach some prestige to them. </p>
<p>Insurance companies should be encouraged to decrease the deductible or something on any bike accident victim who was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. (Attaching money to something is often motivating.)</p>
<p>Someone needs to come up with an easy lock to affix the helmet to the bike so the student doesn’t have something else to carry around with them.</p>
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<p>I’ve often thought that this was a big part of the reason students don’t like helmets. Even if you can affix it, unless it’s locked, theft is a problem. They can probably be looped through backpack straps, but that’s inconvenient too.</p>